¡Familia y Amigas! ¡Ustedes amo!

 

HELLO.

 

First of all, thanks for all of your emails! I felt so loved...again! I can't believe I'm so lucky to have so many people writing me emails of encouragement. I love you guys!

 

Yes, mamasita, I got the Dear Elder package!! Muchas gracias! I was so excited! All the elderes in my district were muchas....jealous....(Side Note: I know I told my mother to correct my spelling....but as I was reading through the email I sent last week, I realized that you might think I'm spelling things wrong that are actually in Spanish. Just so you know, I know how to spell "elders"...but here, it's "elderes." Just so you know.)

 

I also got your Dear Elder letter!! I was excited about that, too! I LOVE YOU GUYS.

 

So for my week...first of all, can I just say something? Whoever said that NYC is the city that never sleeps must have lived under a rock. Mexico City doesn't know the first thing about sleep. It can get kind of hot in our casa en el noche, so we will keep some windows open...but it's never quiet! Sirens! Gunshots! Fireworks! Dance parties! (I think we are across the street from a night club or something.) Don't worry about the gunshots. We're 100% safe. But...santa baca (holy cow,) it gets crazy sometimes.

 

We have some native hermanas in our casa. They are so wonderful! I love them! They help me a ton with my Spanish! One of them speaks a little English, so it's easy to communicate. It really put into perspective what I must sound like to them, though, because the other day we were teaching them some English words, and they could not say the word "pillow." They sounded like...."purrluub. proolib. pendow. prruurrlurr." If that's what they sound like to me when they say "pillow".....wow. I must sound like such an....American to them! But they are adorable. I love them. They are OBSESSED with Hermana Fast, which is hilarious, because she doesn't know why! She's got the super blonde hair and bright blue eyes, so maybe that? Anyway, it's super cute. They told us this morning that one of them had a dream that us four America Hermanas were angels.

 

Spanish is coming along fine. I felt like I wasn't progressing for a few days, but then we taught a lesson and I realized I could speak so much more fluently! I need to trust in the Lord more, and have faith that He is always helping me as I study!

 

Also, our casa is haunted. One of my butterfingers from my package went missing, someone drank half of my Mucho Mango drink, the door to room 5 locked by itself (no one lives in that room yet,) Hermana Wilson y Clawson's clothes got rearranged in their closets, someone stole some of my hangers...one day we walked in and the sink in room 4 was overflowing! We were the only ones there! Water was all over the floor!!!!!! (There's a really good explanation for that, but I like to think it's a ghost.)

 

I am learning that even though I have a strong testimony, I have so much to learn and room to grow in the gospel. We watched a devotional by Elder Holland, where he said that we can guaruntee at least ONE convert on each of our missions....and that is ourselves! WE need to be converted before we can even hope to bring anyone else to Christ. Then, in my personal study, I read 3 Nefi (that's how it's spelled out here...and it's pronnounced "neh-fee"...weirdness...) Anyway, 3 Nefi 14:3-5, which says:

 

"...why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the bean that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: Let me pull the mote out of thine eye--and behold, a bean is in thine own eye?...first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of they borhter's eye."

 

We can't hope to help anyone if we haven't fixed ourselves. I'd always read that verse as "don't judge anyone, because you have your own faults, too," but after Elder Holland's video devotional, I read it differently. We need to convert ourselves to the Lord before we can hope to bring anyone else there.

 

I hope you guys at girls camp are having fun! I'm loving it here. I was a bit more down on myself than last week...I'm getting pretty frustrated with the language...but I'm feeling much better now! I just needed to remind myself that...it's only been two weeks! Look how far the Lord has helped me along already! I'll be fine. (:

 

(That awkward smiley face was in honor of Lindy, who still seems to lack the concept of how socially unacceptable an awkward smiley face is, judging from her last email...JUST KIDDING! LOVE YOU, LINDY.)

 

Keep emailing me! Keep praying! On your knees!

 

¡Hasta Luego!

 

Hermana Thomas